A database designed to share information faster than ever before is finding fugitives.

Train-hopping is an anonymous, free form of transportation if you don't get caught. It’s how investigators think two murder suspects fled from a California crime scene all the way to a small town in Nebraska.

Advertisement

“This was kind of big news for little old Nebraska City at the time,” said Capt. Lonnie Neeman, with the Nebraska City Police Department.

The two suspects are accused of killing a 19-year-old in Roseville, California, were found thanks to a database at the Nebraska Information Analysis Center, which is located near the Lincoln airport.

“That’s the role of the NIAC, to make sure that the right people get the right information in a timely manner to make a difference,” said Lt. John Shelton, with the Nebraska State Patrol.

The center was created as part of the government’s response to the 9/11 attacks. NIAC brings together local, state and federal law enforcement agencies physically and digitally through a shared database. Information that has always been logged by individual agencies is now more widely available digitally.

“What the analysts are able to do is go that extra effort,” Shelton.

For instance, with the fugitives, investigators in Roseville, California, called Lincoln police to inform them that suspects Edward Anauo and Jules Carrillo might be headed there. With no tips in Lincoln, investigators called NIAC to alert analysts.

Shelton said an analyst discovered the Nebraska State Patrol had stopped the two months earlier at a train yard in western Nebraska. Since troopers didn’t know they were murder suspects at the time, they were let go, but the information was stored along with information on a woman who was with them that day.

“She just looked up the registration and it was an address in Nebraska City,” Shelton said.

Nebraska City police assembled a team and served a warrant at the home March 28, finding Carrillo and Anauo inside.

“That’s kind of what we do. We complete the picture somewhat,” Shelton said.

NIAC staff members said there still needs to be teams putting information to use, but investigators are proud to help however they can.

“If we're successful, generally people don't really know about it, but that's OK with us because in the long run, we're all on the same team,” Shelton said.

State patrol staff members are quick to point out they're not accumulating any new information, they are just sharing information that was previously tougher to access all at once.